Humane society seeks dog fur crackdown A national animal rights group wants to
put a group of fur retailers and manufacturers in the dog house. The humane
society of the united states will ask the federal trade commission on tuesday to
fine high end retailers and designers of clothing that contains mislabeled fur
from dogs, wolves and raccoon dogs.The group also would like inventories seized
and perhaps charges filed. "Consumers have a right to know what they are
purchasing,"Said michael markarian, the executive vice president of the humane
society. "If they are truly getting a type of dog fur, they should be outraged.
" The documents filed with the ftc name designers andrew marc and michael kors,
among others.Penney, and neiman marcus also were cited. The petition stems from
a humane society investigation that turned up products that were made with fur
from dogs, wolves or raccoon dogs, a species found mainly in asia, that were
sold as either fake fur or other types of fur in violation of the federal fur
products labeling act. Raccoon dogs look like oversize, fluffy raccoons and
aren't kept as pets.Importing their fur is not illegal, but activists argue they
are still a type of dog. "Domestic dogs andRaccoon dogsare killed in brutal ways
for their fur in china,"Says the humane society on its web site.Raccoon dogs"Are
known to be skinned alive for fur in china, where they are caged and killed in
large numbers. " Mislabeling fur is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $5, 000
fine or a year in prison.Fur valued at less than $150 doesn't have to be
labeled. Jim sluzewski, a spokesman for macy's parent, federated department
stores inc., said his company opposes selling dog fur but takes its vendors on
faith that they comply with company policy. "It is our vendors that label
product, and we expect them to do so accurately,"He said in an e mail. "We take
immediate action whenever we find a violation of policy. " Late last year,
macy's immediately pulled from its shelves coats with raccoon dog fur but
labeled as raccoon and advertised as rabbit http://www.jonahgroup.com/uncategorized/waldseem-cheap-polo-ralph-lauren-t-shirts-map-might/
after the humane society raised the issue with the chain. "Macy's hasn't done
enough as far as we're concerned,"Markarian said monday, claiming that it http://blog.serenetrips.com/a-luxury-travel-cheap-ralph-lauren-agency/
is still selling other products with raccoon dog fur. The humane society said in
its petition that http://www.hanaroobabywrap.com/which-will-michael-kors-satchels-greenwich-feature/
barneys sold fur trimmed jackets with tags claiming they used coyote fur when
they really used fur from wolves.Barneys did not return a call for comment. Josh
chapman, a spokesman http://www.netadwise.com/?p=4193 for
the manufacturer of the jacket, i.Spiewak and sons inc., said his company
inspects the facilities where they purchase coyote fur. "We certainly know that
everything is coyote, nothing could be anything else,"Chapman insisted. Design
company michael kors(Usa)Inc.Said it is conducting its own internal
investigation on the sources of fur products it sold through dillard's stores.
"We certainly expect the companies to be discussing these issues internally, but
they've had plenty of time to do that,"Markarian said. Dillard's did not respond
to a requests for comment.Penney said it had no comment. Neiman marcus group
inc.Spokeswoman ginger reeder said her company removed all products with fur
trim from their web sites after the humane society investigation. "Further
investigation assured us that these vendors were also in compliance with this
act and they have provided us with proof that the merchandise is properly
labeled,"Reeder said. Charles jayson, chief executive of andrew marc, disputed
the humane society and insisted in a statement that all fur on his coats labeled
as raccoon contains"Only farm bred raccoon fur from finland, and our items
labeled 'faux fur' are a 100 percent synthetic fabric. " The results of the
humane society investigations set some retailers scrambling to pull the coats
from shelves, take them off web sites and offer refunds to consumers.They
include nordstrom, calvin klein, tommy hilfiger and burlington coat factory.None
of them was named in the humane society's complaint to the ftc. "We believe that
many of the companies were just as shocked as we were,"Markarian said about
various responses to the investigations. "Some http://blog.serenetrips.com/a-luxury-travel-cheap-ralph-lauren-agency/
companies have been leading the way.The other companies, by comparison, have
done nothing. "